onchocerciasis

a tropical disease of the skin and underlying connective tissue caused by the parasitic worm ONCHOCERCA . Fibrous nodular tumours grow around the adult worms in the skin; these may take several months to appear, and if secondary bacterial infection occurs they may degenerate into abscesses. The skin also becomes inflamed and itches. The migration of the MICROFILARIA into the eye can cause total or partial blindness - called river blindness in Africa. Onchocerciasis occurs in Africa and Central and South America. IVERMECTIN is used in treatment; if possible, the nodules are removed as and when they appear.